History - Last of the Frontier Marshals

It was a crisp, sunny fall afternoon in 1982 when
William P. Clark, Jr., Assistant to the
President for National Security Affairs,
talked to Marshals Service staff about his grandfather,
Robert E. Clark - a man often
referred to as "the last of the Frontier
Marshals." One of the West's most colorful
and widely known early law enforcement
officers, Clark later served with
distinction as the United States Marshal
for the Southern District of California
from 1933 until 1948. Robert E. Clark
Ranger, Sheriff, U.S. Marshal

The interview with Marshal Clark's
grandson, in his office in the West Wing
of the White House, dealt with a family
record of public service by the Marshal,
his son, grandson, and great-grandson.
William P. Clark, called "the Judge" in
deference to his 12 years on the bench in
California, was relaxed and comfortable
in his polished western boots during the
hour-long interview.

Referring to his own career, he noted that while practicing law in
Ventura County, he was President for two terms of the County Sheriffs
Posse - an active, working auxiliary to the Sheriffs Office involved in
search and rescue, patrol and emergency operations. He served two years
as a Superior Court Trial Judge followed by two years as a State Court
of Appeals Judge. Then, in 1973, Governor Reagan appointed him to the
California State Supreme Court. Clark served there more than eight
years.

Clark's best-known opinion was for the
majority in the case of The People v.
Tanner. That case involved interpretation
of a statute requiring mandatory imprisonment
for anyone using a pistol or a
weapon in the course of particular
felonies, including robbery, and allowing
no discretion to the trial court. Following
a rehearing in that case, Clark's majority
opinion sustained the legislation requiring
mandatory imprisonment.
Shown on right, William P. Clark, Jr. and Sr., ride with
then-California governor Ronald Reagan.

In 1880, at the age of four, Robert
Clark moved with his parents to California
from Fair Play, Wisconsin. The last
part of the journey from Wisconsin was
by stage coach. "Bob" Clark later became
a stage driver himself, gaining a reputation
as a master "six-in-hand" driver,
handling heavy six-horse stages over
hazardous California mountain routes.
Clark met many of the nation's most prominent
people on the stage routes, including
John D. Rockefeller and Andrew
Carnegie. But his most important
passenger was Alice Barnett of Poplar
Bluff, Missouri, whom he married at
Mission San Gabriel on August 23, 1905.
Above,
"The Ambush" by Arthur
Sarnoff, Courtesy of Deligny Galleries, Fort
Lauderdale, Florida.

Later, so a family story goes, Alice
Clark was traveling back to Ventura
County by train, while then-Ranger
Clark was helping to bring peace to the
lawless Castaic area. She always raised chickens, and on this occasion
brought a
crate full to the train station to take on the
trip. The people of the town had turned
out to bid her farewell, and when the
train conductor strongly objected to the
chickens, a group of the townspeople
(armed and on horseback) ordered the
conductor off the train. The conductor
later became a lifelong family friend of
the Clarks, often visiting the Clark home
"to check on Mrs. Clark's chickens".

Bob Clark first attracted public notice
in California because of his part in ending
the long Carmichael-Jenkins cattle rustling
feud, during which 22 men were
killed. Clark had been selected for the assignment
of bringing peace to the
lawless Castaic area by President
Theodore Roosevelt. Clark served as
United States Ranger in that turbulent
community from 1905 to 1908.

After this
service, he headed for Tombstone,
Arizona, where he worked as a cowboy
for two years. There he met and formed a
life-long friendship with the famous
Wyatt Earp. Soon Bob Clark returned to
California as a U. S. Ranger again, eventually
to be assigned to his home county.

He was regarded by those who knew him as an
honest, humane, and energetic person. In 1922,
he was elected Sheriff of Ventura County.
Re-elected twice, he
served 11 years as Ventura County
Sheriff.

After Franklin D. Roosevelt was
elected President, Bob Clark became
United States Marshal for the Southern
District of California. He held that job
until 1948. By then, his flaming red hair
was a salt and pepper gray, but his black
suit and ten-gallon black sombrero were
his trademark. Still a horseman, he was
part of a riding group that included Tom
Mix, Buck Jones, and Will Rogers.

Bob Clark's first term as U.S. Marshal
began shortly prior to the repeal of the Volstead Act. One of his first official acts
was to destroy, at court order, 5000
gallons of liquor, then valued at $25,000.
He and his Deputies poured the liquor
into a sewer.

Marshal Clark employed, in 1935, the
first woman Deputy in California. He
also had on his staff a former U.S. Marshal,
Edward Faupel, who had previously
served for several years as U.S. Marshal
for China in Shanghai.

After retiring as a U.S. Marshal, Bob
Clark took up residence at Santa Paula,
where he built a ranch home high on a
hill overlooking the Ojai Valley. He died a few days before his
80th birthday, survived
by his widow, six children and 26
grandchildren. One of his children, Judge
William Clark's father, continued
the family law enforcement tradition as
Chief of Police in Oxnard, California,
and Under Sheriff in Ventura, California.